


I Can't Be

by crushondeanlikeafairy



Category: S.W.A.T. (TV 2017)
Genre: Brother-Sister Relationships, Case Fic, Friendship, Gang Violence, Gen, Hurt street, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Kidnapping, Lost Time, Mystery, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Nothing Excplicit, Team as Family, it's just mentioned, missing memories, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-16
Updated: 2020-09-15
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:54:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26489017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crushondeanlikeafairy/pseuds/crushondeanlikeafairy
Summary: Street shows up in a hospital two states over after disappearing eight days ago. The catch, he has no memory of where he's been. It's up to Hondo and the others to run an investigation in Los Angeles and Salt Lake to find out what happened.
Relationships: Jim Street & Original Female Character, jim street & chris alonso
Comments: 2
Kudos: 66





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Title from "Bad Liar" by Imagine Dragons.
> 
> This is literally all I've been doing the last three days since my flight has been canceled five times and I'm stuck in my hotel. So, here ya go.  
> I wanted to practice following a clue trail, and my writing partner gave me this prompt.
> 
> The warning is just to be safe. Nothing in this work is explicit, everything is only briefly mentioned.

Bright light streaked across his vision and he brought a shaking hand up to shield his eyes. The cars passing by roaring as they drove past, hurting his ears. He stumbled, tripping over something that either wasn’t there or he couldn’t see, and his shoulder slammed into a brick wall to his left. He pressed his hands into the stone in a feeble attempt to hold himself upright, leaning into the wall and attempting to take a deep breath. He didn’t know where he was, everything was spinning and he couldn’t recognize the streets. Sticky blood was dripping into his eyes, blurring his vision, as he took another step forward. His leg wobbled and he almost hit the ground, catching himself on a bike rack at the corner of the building.

Street didn’t have a destination in mind, he just knew he had to run. He had to escape. Had to help… help someone. Who was it? He rounded the corner of the brick building, losing his footing and crashing to the ground, plastic bags of trash breaking his fall. He got his hands underneath him, trying to heave his chest back up off the ground, but any strength left in his body failed him and he fell back down before everything faded to black.

Hondo was in the kitchen at HQ sifting through the fridge when his phone rang. He gave the I.D. a cursory glance, but he didn’t recognize the number. An out of state area code. He furrowed his brow in confusion as he brought the phone to his ear.

“This is Sergeant Harrelson.”

“Hondo,” a tired voice filtered through the phone.

Hondo paused, shutting the fridge door a little harder than necessary. “Street? Where the hell are you?”

“Uh…” he responded, hesitating for a moment. “That’s, uh… that’s what I’m calling about.”

A few hours later and with approval from Commander Hicks, Hondo was in a taxi from Salt Lake City International Airport. The car dropped him off outside the hospital and he made his way to the front desk. The nurse directed him in the right direction and he made his way down the hall. When he reached the right room, he leaned through the open doorway and knocked on the frame.

A nurse was inside, and she turned to greet him. The patient on the bed was awake, though just barely it seemed, and he sat up when Hondo entered the room. Street cringed as the sudden movement pulled on injuries Hondo couldn’t see. The nurse chastised him, gently pressing a hand to his chest and pushing him back down to the bed.

“Try to stay still, sweetheart,” she said kindly. “I’m all done, for now, I’ll be back in a bit to check on you.”

The nurse left the room, giving a small smile to Hondo as she passed. Once they were alone, Hondo stepped further into the room, shutting the door behind him. He stopped a foot from the bed, looping his thumbs through his belt. He took in Street’s disheveled appearance, the sling immobilizing his left arm. The bruising covering most of his face. The dark circles under his eyes and the fine sheen of sweat on his skin.

“I’d ask if you’re alright, but…” Hondo said, gesturing to the bandages wrapped around his teammate’s head. “Can you tell me how a member of my team disappears without a trace and shows up days later in Utah of all places?”

Street opened his mouth as if to answer, but stopped himself. He shook his head, looking out the window.

“What happened?”

“I don’t know,” Street admits, finally looking at Hondo. “I… I don’t know.”

Hondo sighs, “What’s the last thing you remember?”

“Um…” Street said, his eyes glancing up at the ceiling, “Leaving work. We were all heading out to the parking lot. Tan tripped on something and we all laughed at him. After that I… I woke up here. The nurses said someone found me last night in an alley a few blocks away.”

“Street,” Hondo said slowly, “That was eight days ago.”

Street froze, looking to Hondo quickly, “What?”

“Friday before last,” Hondo confirmed. “You didn’t show up to work the next morning and Luca said you hadn’t shown up at the house either. We waited a day to see if you’d turn up before the whole department was out looking for three days. We didn’t find anything. Not a clue where you went. Eventually, Hicks pulled us back to regular duty. But we’ve all been searching after hours.”

Street’s breath hitched and Hondo was worried for a minute that the younger man was hyperventilating. But he got himself under control with obvious effort, apparently counting his breaths.

“The nurse said they found ketamine in my system. It causes memory loss so…”  
“Short-term. Not enough to block out a whole week,” Hondo said.

“Not one dose,” Street agreed grimly. He held out his left arm for Hondo to see, revealing almost a dozen track marks in the crook of his elbow. “There’s some on my neck too.”

Hondo stepped closer to get a look at his friend’s neck and, sure enough, more spots were there just above where his neck met his shoulder.

“What happened, Hondo?” Street asked, drawing the team leader’s attention back to his face. Street looked lost, more vulnerable than Hondo had ever seen him before. He suspected part of that was the ketamine that could still be in his system, or maybe even pain meds the doctor could have given him. Whatever the reason, Street looked scared and Hondo couldn’t say that he blamed him.

“I don’t know,” Hondo said honestly, “But you listen to me. We’re going to figure it out. I’m gonna call Hicks and tell him I’m gonna be out here awhile. I’ve got your back, kid. I’m gonna find who did this and I’m gonna kick their ass, you hear me?”

Street nervously licked his cracked lips, nodding slowly.

“Did the doctor tell you anything else?”

“No,” Street said, “The nurse said they were waiting for the ketamine to be out of my system.”

“I’ll go talk to ‘em if that’s alright with you?”

Street nodded again.

“Alright,” Hondo said, “Then you and I are gonna go over what we know. Maybe it’ll even help you remember something.”

He turned and headed for the door, but stopped when Street softly called his name.

“The others? Did you tell them?”

“Tell them what? I couldn’t tell them what I didn’t know,” he said lightly, “I figured I’d better find out what I’m walking into first. I didn’t want to worry them even more than they already are. ‘Sides, you asked me not to.”

“Thanks,” Street said quietly, “I didn’t wanna freak them out.”

“I’ll try not to take it personally that you were fine freaking me out,” Hondo answered. He was going for levity and judging by the small upturn of Street’s mouth it worked. Hondo smirked, tapping the doorframe once on his way out of the room.

A nurse directed him to Street’s doctor and he found the man just down the hall, talking to another man in a cheap suit.

“Dr. Brogeman?” Hondo greeted, “Sergeant Harrelson, LAPD. When you have a moment, I’d like to discuss Jim Street’s condition with you.”

“Ah, I was expecting one of you to show up,” the doctor said, shaking Hondo’s hand. He gestured to the man in the cheap suit. “We were just discussing that actually.”

“Detective Marks, Salt Lake PD,” the other man said, shaking Hondo’s hand as well.

“You the detective assigned to Street’s case?” Hondo asked.

“That’s right. I’m assuming you’re his commanding officer?”

“I am. If it’s alright with you, I’d like to assist with the investigation.”

“My chief has already contacted your commander to work on inter-agency cooperation. He was last seen in LA, I already know you guys are gonna have evidence I’m gonna need. No sense in us running separate investigations.”

“I appreciate that,” Hondo said before turning to the doctor. “Mind filling me in?”

“The patient has already given his consent to share his records with all active members of the case. As I was telling Detective Marks, the ambulance arrived just after two a.m. last night. He was unconscious so we were only able to do a cursory examination and x-rays. We found breaks in three of his ribs and a fracture in his left clavicle. His skull was fractured in two places as well, one in his supraorbital foramen and the other in the parietal bone.”

“That is?” Marks asked.

“Just above his right eye socket and the back of the head, respectively.”

“Blunt force trauma?”

“Looks like,” the doctor agreed. “As well as lacerations on both his wrists that we had to bandage.”

“Street told me that you guys found ketamine in his system?” Hondo said.

“Traces, yes. It was already wearing off by the time we were able to get a blood sample. We have no way of knowing how much he was injected with.”

“It was injected?” the detective clarified.

“Definitely,” Hondo said, “I saw the track marks. Whoever took him, they’ve had him since he disappeared in LA and have been drugging him.”

“Ketamine is an excellent drug for sedation. We use it for patients going into surgery. It usually causes short-term memory loss, so I’m not surprised he doesn’t remember anything. And I’m sure the head trauma hasn’t done him any favors.”

“He told you he doesn’t remember anything?” the detective asked.

“That’s right,” Brogeman said.

“He told me the same thing,” Hondo said.

“Unfortunately, that’s not all,” the doctor said slowly. Hondo was not liking the look of condolence on that man’s face. “We found evidence of sexual intercourse. Three different DNA samples.”

Hondo felt a sudden spike of rage that he wasn’t quite sure what to do with. There was nothing he could do with it yet, so he had to settle for slamming the side of his fist into the wall. It caused a few heads to turn but he didn’t care about decorum at the moment.

“Does he know?” Hondo asked.

“Not yet. We were waiting for the ketamine to leave his system first. No sense telling him if there’s a chance he won’t remember.”

“That combined with the ketamine,” Marks hummed thoughtfully, “You thinking what I’m thinking?”

“Traffickers?” Hondo asked.

“It fits.”

“I hate to admit it,” Hondo sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. He turned back to Brogeman, “Thank you, Doctor.”

“Of course,” he said solemnly, giving them a tight smile. He turned to leave but stopped for a moment. “One more thing. Just before he woke up, he was mumbling a name. Angie, I think it was.”

“Angie?” Hondo asked. He’d never heard the kid mention anyone by that name.

“We’ll look into it,” Marks said. The doctor nodded and went back to his work.

Hondo pulled out his phone, dialing a number. “I’m gonna call my commander. Get a couple of my people down here. Then we’ll talk to Street.”

“Yeah. After that, I’ll take ya down to the alley they found him in. Not much to go on there, but who knows? You might see something I didn’t.”

After sitting in the room with Street for fifteen minutes, the kid still hadn’t said a word.

“You don’t have to talk to him,” Hondo said, gesturing to Detective Marks. “If you’ll be more comfortable, it can be just you and me.”

“Actually, I-” Marks started, prepared to argue. Hondo shot him a look that shut down any protests before they could begin, and he turned back to Street. “If that would be better…”

“No, it’s just… I don’t know what I could tell you.”

“How about we start with the night you disappeared?” Marks suggested, “The last thing you remember is leaving work?”

Street nodded, “Tan tripping. I can’t even remember getting to my bike.”

“Well, Luca says you didn’t show up at home. So you must have gone somewhere,” Hondo said, “You didn’t have any plans to meet with anyone after work? No idea where you were going?”

“No.”

Hondo thought back to that night. “Phone call. I was parked next to you. You reached your bike and your phone rang. Any idea who it could have been?”

Street shook his head, “I mean it wouldn’t have been any of you guys. I know that much.” He reached his uninjured arm up to wipe sweat from his forehead, careful not to put pressure where the fracture was covered in bandages to staunch the bleeding. His hand was shaking and he reached back down, pulling the blanket up at high as he could. “Is it cold in here?”

“You’ve been continually dosed with ketamine for a week, your body’s going to be going through withdrawal,” Marks explained. “Could that caller have been Angie?”

“Angie? Street said thoughtfully, his voice low and slow. Suddenly, his head shot up as a look of realization dawned on his face. He sat up, stopping and grimacing in pain as he must have pulled on his ribs and clavicle.

“Whoa, easy,” Hondo said, rising from his seat.

“Angie,” Street said urgently, “She’s in trouble! I need to find her!”

“You need to rest!” Hondo argued, “Lay back down. I’ll get the nurse to give you some pain me-”

“No!” Street said adamantly, “I told them I don’t want any.”

“Street-”

“I need to be awake!” Street insisted, “I need to find Angie!”

“Who is Angie?”

Street sighed, the pain clearly getting the better of him as he laid back down. “She’s one of my foster sisters.”

“She the one who called you?” Marks asked.

“I don’t know. Probably. I don’t remember. But last night, I was running-”

“From who?” Marks asked.

“I don’t know! But I remember the only thought in my head was that I had to get Angie out. I had to save her.”

“From what?”

“I don’t know!” Street said again, his voice rising in pitch. He turned to his boss instead of the detective. “Hondo, I don’t know. But Angie is in danger. That is the only thing I am certain of.”

“Okay, kid, relax,” Hondo said, “We’ll find her. I promise. Chris and Luca are on their way to LAX right now. We’ll get more boots on the ground and we’ll piece this mess together. We’ll find her.”

“Do you have your phone?” Marks asked, “We can see who it was that called you.”

Street shook his head, “My pockets were empty when they found me.”

“Wherever it is, GPS was turned off. That’s the first thing we checked when we were looking for you.”

“We’ll pull your phone records. See what we can see,” Marks said, closing his notepad and putting it in his suit pocket. He rose from his seat, “Ready to check out the scene?”

“In a minute,” Hondo said, “I gotta chat with him first.”

Marks gave him an understanding look and nodding once. “I’ll wait downstairs.”

Once they were alone, Street turned to Hondo with wide, worried eyes. “What is it?”

Hondo sighed, taking his seat once more. He figured this conversation would go better if he wasn’t towering over his teammate. “Listen, kid. There’s no easy way for me to say this so I’m just gonna come out and say it. That kit they ran on you? It came back positive. They found evidence of sexual intercourse.”

Street took a deep, shaky breath. “Oh, God,” he muttered, staring down at his hand clenched at his side. He looked like he was going to be sick and Hondo didn’t think it was just the withdrawals.

Hondo gave him a moment to process before continuing. “I’m sorry. Do you need me to stay?”

“No,” he answered distantly, his thoughts obviously preoccupied. “No, go. I’ll be fine.”

Hondo nodded, rising from his seat once more.

“Hondo?” Street said, “If I was meeting Angie that night, it would have been at Rollins Pub on 5th. That’s where we always met.”

“What did you usually talk about?”

“Only one thing. Her brother,” Street said, “They got separated when they entered the system. She’s spent the last decade trying to find him. We found each other on Facebook and when she realized I was a cop now she asked if I could help. I told her I’d look into it.”

“You thinking she called you cause she found something, and that you went down there to meet her?”

“She must have cause I’ve never had any luck with it. And she wouldn’t have called me for anything else.”

“Alright,” Hondo said, “I’ll call Deac and have him and Tan look into it.”

“Thanks,” Street muttered as Hondo left the room.

The crime scene, if they could even call it that seeing as no crime was committed there but it was all they had, was an alleyway behind a bank. Hondo was standing with Detective Marks on the sidewalk just outside the alley’s entranceway while the detective flipped through his notepad. Hondo tried not to laugh seeing an actual physical notepad, as most people tended to use digital now.

“Alright, so the guy who originally called it in was a homeless man who stays in the alley most nights. He went to that payphone just up the street. He initially thought your guy was dead but when paramedics showed up they realized he was still breathing.”

“What time was this?”

Marks checked his notes. “Call was 1:35 am.”

“There wouldn’t have been many witnesses then?”

“Nope, not much of a nightlife in this city. Particularly not the business district.”

Hondo hummed thoughtfully, glancing up and down the sidewalk.

“I’m thinking he looked dead, whoever had him maybe thought the same thing. They dumped what they thought was a corpse and drove off,” Marks said.

Hondo nodded absentmindedly before his eyes caught something on the wall of the bank. It was hard to see against the red of the brick, but blood was smeared into the stone. He looked closer at the shape, almost like a hand sliding down the wall. He spotted more on the bike rack near the corner.

“Maybe not.”

“What are you thinking?” Marks asked, walking closer and spotting the blood himself.

Hondo looked further up the sidewalk, following the faint trail of blood up the street. “He wasn’t dumped here. Street said he was running. He must have meant last night.”

“He was on foot. He came from the North and he collapsed in the alley,” Marks agreed. “Fractured skull. Losing a lot of blood. Dosed with something that impairs motor skills. He can’t have gotten very far.”

“No,” Hondo said, “Wherever he was coming from, it’s near here.”

“We have a trail,” Marks said, pointing to the droplets of blood on the sidewalk. “Let’s see where it leads us.”

At Rollins Pub in Downtown Los Angeles, Deacon and Tan were just walking through the front door. It was just before noon, so the establishment was closed but the front door was open and someone was inside wiping down the bar.

“We’re closed,” the man said without looking up.

“We’re not thirsty,” Tan said.

Deac took his badge off his belt and slid it on the bar next to the man’s hand. The man stopped and stared at it for a second before looking up, sliding the badge back across the surface.

“I don’t want any trouble.”

“Neither do we,” Deacon said, putting his badge back on his belt, “You Rollins?”

“There is no Rollins. I’m Shawn, I’m the owner,” he said, flinging the rag he had been cleaning with over his shoulder. “What does the LAPD want with my upstanding establishment.”

“You’re not in trouble. We just have to ask you a few questions.”

“Like?”

Tan took out his phone, showing him a photo of Street. “Have you seen this man before? Probably would have been Friday before last?”

“Look, I get a lot of people in here. I don’t remember ‘em all. But I have seen him before.”

“That night?”

“I don’t know about that night specifically. I have seen him in the last week or so. It could have been Friday. He was here with that girl he’s always with.”

“Angie?” Tan asked.

“I don’t know either of their names,” Shawn said, “I see them every few months or so. They sit in that booth in the back and talk. Never cause any trouble.”

“Security footage?” Deacon asked.

Shawn sighed, “If it’ll get you out of my bar, fine. I’ll get you a copy of the footage from that night.”

“Thank you,” Tan said. The man went into a back room and Tan’s phone dinged. He read the message and turned to Deac, “Phone records confirmed someone named ‘Angela Baskin’ called Street just after we got off work that night. He must have come here to meet her.”

He held up a photo for Deac to see. A young woman about Street’s age, appearing to be of Chinese descent.

“Alright,” Deacon said, “We’ll look through the footage and confirm whether or not Street was here then we’ll call Hondo.”

They waited until Shawn brought out a USB with the footage they needed and headed back out to the parking lot.

Meanwhile, Chris and Luca had just arrived in Salt Lake City. They got a shuttle to take them to the hospital, having informed Hondo they’d meet him after they checked in with Street.

“Hondo said it was bad,” Chris said, her hands stuffed into her pockets in an attempt to prevent herself from wringing them.

“Whatever’s wrong, it can’t be worse than what we were all thinking had happened, right?” Luca said as the elevator door opened and the pair stepped onto Street’s floor. “I mean, gone a week with absolutely no trace? I was beginning to think he was dead.”

Chris sighed, “I tried not to let my mind go there but I was thinking the same thing. Thanks for agreeing to stop here before we meet Hondo.”

“For sure. I mean, I don’t think I’ll fully believe it until I see him.”

“Me neither.”

They continued in silence down the hallway until they reached the right room. They were fortunate in that Street was awake still, sifting through his medical chart. Before he could greet them, Chris had thrown herself at him, mindful of the sling. He still grimaced from the impact but wrapped his injured arm around her.

“I missed you,” he said quietly.

“I missed you too,” she said, standing back up and straightening her jacket.

Luca stepped forward and rested a hand on Street’s shoulder before he spoke, his voice thick, “It’s good to see you in one piece, man.”

“Mostly,” Street said wryly, smiling up at his friend. “Doctors said I should be fine though.”

“What happened?” Chris asked, taking in Street’s appearance. All the bandages and bruising filling her head with worst-case scenarios, though none nearly as horrific as the ones she’d come up with while he’d been missing.

“You guys are gonna have to tell me once you figure it out.”

“That’s right. Hondo said you couldn’t remember anything,” Luca recalled.

“Tan texted us on the ride over. You definitely met with your foster sister at that bar you mentioned that night,” Chris said. “That’s more than we’d been able to find all week. We’ll figure this out.”

“Yeah, and now that we know about your sister we can look into her. Deac and Tan are going to her apartment to see if they can find anything.”

“I wish I could help. My sister is in danger and I’m stuck here,” Street said. He sounded stressed which, given the circumstances, was understandable.

“Maybe you can,” Chris said, “Maybe I could stay here and we’ll go over what we know. It might jog something.”

Street nodded at the same time as Luca said, “That sounds like a good idea. And I’ll go meet Hondo at the Salt Lake precinct.”

“Okay.”

Luca pat Street’s shoulder one last time, “Hang in there, man,” before he headed back out into the hallway.

Street and Chris sat in silence for a few minutes, him on his hospital bed and her in the chair to his left. He was running a thumb along the front page of his medical chart, staring blankly at the cover.

“Something else on your mind?”

Street glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. He sighed, handing her his medical chart. She took it, admittedly confused. She scanned the contents quickly. It mostly seemed par for the course, but she stopped when she reached the second page, fairly certain she’d found what was upsetting him.

“Oh,” she whispered, closing the chart. She set it down on the table beside his bed.

He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. Despite that, it still sounded shaky. “Yeah.”

“If you ever need someone to talk to-”

“Talk about what?” Street asked with a dark chuckle. “I can’t remember anything.”

“I know,” she said carefully. “But, um… I’d understand, you know? Even if you just need to talk about not remembering, I’m… I’m here for you.”

Street turned his head toward her then. He gave her a soft smile. “I know.”

“Good,” Chris said, returning his smile. “Now, let’s get down to business. We’ve got a sister to find.”

“Luca,” Hondo called as he entered the precinct. He spotted his teammate standing over Detective Marks’ computer, looking at a map.

“Hey, boss. I pulled up the block Street was found in.”

Marks and Hondo made their way over to the desk to look over Luca’s shoulder. Hondo pointed to an intersection two blocks away.

“That’s where we lost his trail,” he said.

“Assuming he escaped from a building and not a vehicle, wherever he was being held can’t have been much further than that,” Marks said.

“Any abandoned buildings in the vicinity?” Hondo asked.

“While I waited for you guys I found a few within a five-mile radius. Some are in the opposite direction so lemme just filter those out,” Luca said, tapping a few keys on the keyboard. “Voila.”

“Three candidates,” Marks commented.

“What if the building they’re keeping them isn’t abandoned?” Luca asked, “What if it’s an operating business being used as a cover?”

“You guys get that?” Marks asked.

“More than ya think,” Hondo said, smiling at Marks slyly, “LA’s a bit wilder than Salt Lake.”

“I’ll say,” Marks said.

“We’ll check out the abandoned buildings, see what we turn up. By then, Deac and Tan should have something to give us,” Hondo said to Luca. He turned to Marks, “Can you scrounge up a team?”

“On it,” Marks said, heading off to collect available officers.

Hondo turned to Luca, “Let’s gear up.”

Hondo and Luca were headed to the last location on their list, the only residential building. Marks and his team had split off to investigate the other ones. It was the furthest in their list, where the business district turned into houses, and just under three miles from where they’d found Street. They all thought it was a little too far for Street to have gotten that far in his condition, but they figured it’d be worth looking into. They were on the road there when Hondo’s phone rang.

“Deac,” he greeted, “What have ya got?”

“We went to Angela Baskin’s apartment. No sign of her. The food in the fridge is bad. She definitely hasn’t been home since Street vanished.”

“So we can assume either they were both taken or she’s in hiding somewhere.”

“Probably, yeah,” Deacon agreed, “We also found an address on her fridge. The name ‘Alex’ was attached to it. Her old foster records indicate her brother’s name was Alex. But the address is registered to Felix Norman.”

“Street did say he never had any luck finding her brother. If he changed his name, that would explain it,” Hondo said. “You think Street and his sister were there?”

“I know they were. I got a call that a motorcycle was towed from that address yesterday morning. License plates match Street’s bike.”

“Alright, good work, Deac. Call me when you find something.”

The phone clicked as Deacon hung up the line. Hondo tossed his phone back into the cup holder at his side.

“This doesn’t make any sense,” Luca said, “Street went out looking for his foster sister’s brother and ended up involved with traffickers?”

“A lot of gangs get into trafficking. It’s possible Angie’s brother had beef with a gang and got Street and his sister caught up in it. Or he works with them.”

“You think this… Alex or Felix, whatever his name is, would sell his own sister to traffickers?” Luca asked, appalled.

Hondo shrugged, bringing one hand away from the wheel to run one hand over his head. “They haven’t seen each other in ten years. And she got a cop involved. If he, or his friends, felt like law enforcement was getting too close they’d be inclined to do something about it.”

“You’re probably right,” Luca said, sounding like he hated the very notion. “I’ve seen a lot, but the idea that someone could do something like that…”

“There’re a lot of messed up people out there, Luca. That’s why we do what we do.”

“I know,” Luca sighed. He pointed out the window, “That building. There.”

Hondo pulled up to the curb and hopped out of the car alongside Luca. The building had a faded ‘For Sale’ sign on the front lawn, painted over with cans of spray paint, and vandals had their fun. The windows were boarded up. It had clearly been on the market a long time.

“Back door,” Hondo said, gesturing for Luca to go around the other side. Luca obeyed, running off, as Hondo headed toward the front door. It was wide open, so he just walked inside. It was dark in the hall, with every window covered with panels of wood. He met Luca in the middle of the first floor, nobody in sight. Thermal imaging had shown the building to be empty, but they found it safer to double-check. Finding nothing of use on the first floor, they made their way up the stairs. Hondo led while Luca brought up the rear. They checked each room, barren except for a few empty cardboard boxes and each one held a ratty, filthy mattress.

“Either this place used to house squatters…” Luca said.

“Or this is our place,” Hondo finished. “Schematic showed a basement. Let’s check it out. Try not to touch anything. If this is the scene, we don’t wanna contaminate it.”

They made their way back down the stairs and searched quickly for the basement door. That door had been left wide open, adding to Hondo’s working theory that whoever had been here cleared out in a hurry. Hondo reached the bottom of the stairs first, freezing as he took in the room. Luca stopped just behind him, almost bumping into Hondo.

There was a support beam in the center of the room with a chain wrapped around it, and three more chains tethered to different sides of the room. Two were looped through the water heater and the last one was going through the support of a metal shelving unit. There were open padlocks on the floor, suggesting the chains had been wrapped around the captive’s wrists and locked shut. The concrete floor was stained with drying pools of blood. Hondo brought his hand up to his radio, pressing the button to activate it.

“This is Sergeant Harrelson,” he said, “We found it.”


	2. Chapter 2

Back at the hospital, Chris had just finished filling Street in on what Deacon and Tan had found so far. None of it had succeeded in jogging any memories so far and she was beginning to think it would be a hopeless endeavor. As far as he knew, he’d never heard of Alex or Felix Norman. And the address Deac and Tan were headed to at that very moment didn’t ring any bells. He was getting agitated, she could tell much. She’d decided on a coffee break, though he couldn’t have any at the moment and she wasn’t particularly tired. It was mostly to give both of them some much-needed air.

She was standing in front of the vending machine, sipping her flavorless hospital coffee, when her phone dinged. She read the message from Hondo and rushed back to Street’s room.

“They found something,” she said as she entered the room, immediately getting his attention.

“Angie?”

“No, but they think they found where you were being held,” she explained. Chris took the seat beside his hospital bed again, showing him her phone. Hondo had forwarded her crime scene photos. “Any of this look familiar?”

Street stared at her phone, brow crinkled as he took in the room. He reached up to scroll to the next image. He jerked suddenly and took the phone from her hand. He brought the phone closer to his face, staring at the photo.

“What? What is it?” Chris asked.

“I was here,” he said, turning the phone toward her and pointing to the support beam in the center of the room. “There. And Angie was there… by the shelf.”

“That’s good,” Chris said encouragingly, “Anything else? Do you remember anyone else who was there?”

“I- I don’t know…”

“What about these?” She pointed to the two sets of chains by the water heater. “They think there were two more captives. Think.”

“I am!” He said desperately, “I… I can’t-”

Street felt the headache that had been constantly in the back of his skull since he’d woken up steadily build into a full-blown migraine. Suddenly the lights in the room were too bright and everything was too loud. He felt it more than he remembered it, a hand grabbing his hair and yanking his head back.

“Chris, I- I didn’t see them. They… they were b-behind me,” he said, hearing his voice crack.

“It’s okay,” Chris said. He saw her rise halfway from her seat just before he clenched his eyes shut, reaching a hand out to rest gently on his shoulder. “Try and stay calm. It’s okay if you don’t remember.”

Images flashed in his head. 

_ A man standing over him where he was slumped against the support beam. _

_ ‘I’ll take him,’ a voice said, sounding distant and grainy. _

_ A needle pricked his neck. _

_ ‘Not too much. It’s more fun that way.’ _

_ Laughing. Someone was laughing. _

_ Suddenly his head was too heavy, his eyelids too. He felt someone lift his wrist and unlock the chain. _

Street gasped, grinding his fist into his temple. He tried to reach up with his other arm to do the same but something arrested his movement. He cried out in pain as the action pulled on whatever injury had required a sling, what it was he couldn’t quite remember at the moment. All he knew was that his arm was trapped. He was trapped.

With his free arm, he reached down to yank the sling off. A soft hand grabbed his wrist, so unlock the rough one he’d felt on him not a moment before. He froze, just long enough to hear the soothing voice speaking to him.

“Breathe. You’re hurting yourself. Street, look at me.”

Every fiber of his being told him not to, but he knew that voice. He trusted it. He turned to look at Chris, her face not a foot from his own.

“Breathe with me,” she commanded, taking long, exaggerated breaths in and out.

He obeyed. Not very well at first but eventually he was able to slow his breathing to match her own. Short, shallow bursts becoming even. His eyes met hers then and she smiled at him, slowly sitting back down in her chair.

“What happened?” she asked quietly like she was afraid speaking would spook him again.

“I… remembered someone.”

“Really? One of the traffickers?”

“I, uh, I don’t think so. I think he was a…” Street said, pausing for a moment to make a disgusted face. “A buyer.”

Chris nodded, making a failed effort to hide her own illness at the thought. “Okay. You got a face?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll get the sketch artist down here.”

Chris rose from her seat, phone still in hand, and hurried out of the room.

Deacon and Tan kicked in the front door to Felix Norman’s house. They moved in swiftly, separating to each take a different side of the small house.

“Left side clear,” Deacon called.

“Right side clear,” Tan shouted a moment later. “Deac, check this out.”

Deacon followed the sound of his teammate’s voice to the living room, instantly spotting what Tan had. The glass coffee table was shattered and the couch flipped onto its back. Deacon moved to the wall, pressing a finger next to the town wallpaper.

“Bullet holes,” he said.

Tan nodded, looking around. “Something definitely went down here.” He paused as the light caught something in the corner, causing it to shine in his eye. He bent down and picked them up, realizing upon closer inspection it was two items. He held up first the one in his left hand and then the other. “This is Street’s phone. I’m guessing this is Angela’s.”

“That’s why GPS was off. They’re smashed to bits,” Deacon said.

“I think it’s safe to say they definitely took Angela too.”

Deacon nodded and they went back to searching the house. Not too long after, he found a hidden cache in the wall behind the bathroom mirror. It was an ammo can full of cash, stacks of hundreds wrapped neatly in rubber bands. Under the money he found several tiny packets of white powder, a logo of a snakehead stamped to each one.

“Tan!”

Tan appeared behind him a moment later and he held up one of the packets. “What does that look like to you?”

“Rat Viper,” Tan said angrily. “Aren’t they known for peddling-”

“Powdered ketamine,” Deac finished, “I’d bet that’s what this is.”

“Weren’t there rumors they were running an illegal prostitution ring?” Tan asked.

“There sure were,” Deacon said, placing the packet back in the ammo can and shutting it. “We should call Hondo.”

“Got it. Thanks, Deac. Keep me updated,” Hondo said, hanging up and placing his phone back in his pocket. He turned to Luca and Detective Marks. “Rat Viper is behind this.”

“Rat who?” Marks asked.

“Rat Viper,” Luca answered, “A gang local to Los Angeles. I thought they never left California.”

“They must have branched out,” Hondo said. “Tech came back and confirmed Felix Norman didn’t exist ten years ago. But get this, Deacon found Felix’s wallet in the house. They had pulled up photos of Alexander Chen-”

“Angie’s brother?” Marks asked.

“Yep. Her last name used to be Chen before she was adopted by the Baskins when she was sixteen,” Hondo clarified, “Photos match. Alex and Felix are the same person.”

“Okay, so they definitely found the brother that night, right?” Luca asked, “We know that Street and Angie were at his house.”

“He’s been involved in the gang. His sister comes knocking on his door a decade after they last saw each other-” Hondo said.

“A cop with her, no less,” Luca continued.

Hondo nodded, “Techs took prints of some glasses that were in the kitchen. None of them matched Street or Angie.”

“Ah,” Marks said, “He had friends over that night.”

“Rat Viper friends, no doubt,” Luca said.

“Yep, and a few others. I’m thinking a deal was going down” Hondo confirmed. “Street and Angie would have had no idea what they were walking into. They went there to see if Felix Norman really was her brother and wound up walking in on a drug deal.”

“Makes sense,” Marks agreed.

“Where do we go from here?” Luca asked. “We know where they were taken from in Los Angeles, and where they were being held in Salt Lake, but no clue where Rat Viper could have moved the others to.”

“There’s a 2005 Chevy Silverado registered to Felix Norman. It’s not at his house. I say we start there,” Hondo said. He turned to Marks, “Can you get your techs to search traffic cams for that truck?”

“Of course, send me the plate,” Marks said, pulling out his phone. “We should get to the hospital. I heard your guy was able to give a sketch.”

Hondo and Luca shared a look before heading out of the precinct after Detective Marks.

“He said he thinks this guy was one of the buyers,” Chris said, handing the drawing over to Hondo. They were all standing in the hallway outside Street’s hospital room. He had fallen asleep not too long ago, so they found it best to have this conversation where they wouldn’t disturb him.

Luca looked over Hondo’s shoulder with Detective Marks, “Did he say anything else?”

“He’s pretty sure this guy is how he escaped.”

“What do you mean?” Hondo asked, looking up from the drawing.

“He remembers the guy asking them not to give him the full dose of the ketamine. You know how perverts are,” Chris said bitterly, “But he thinks, and I agree, that if he wasn’t given the full dose that would have been the best time to try an escape.”

Hondo nodded as his phone dinged. He checked his texts before pocketing his phone once more. “Salt Lake techs got the DNA back from the scene. The blood underneath the basement stairs matches Street. There was one more person’s blood, whose DNA was also on one of the upstairs mattresses and matches one of the samples found on Street.”

“You think that’s the buyer Street remembers?” Luca asked.

“Could be. They ran it through the database and it came back as Lance Frayman.”

“Frayman? Is he a suspect?” someone asked from behind Hondo. He turned around to see it was a nurse that had been walking by, a tray of meds in her arms.

“You know him?” Hondo asked, holding up the sketch.

She squinted at the drawing before nodding, “Yeah. That’s him. He’s here.”

Chris glanced back and forth between her teammates quickly before stepping forward. “Here? What do you mean?”

“He came in this morning,” she said, pointing in front of her down the hall. “He’s in room 212.”

Hondo looked to Detective Marks and jerked his head for him to follow. “Luca, Chris, stay with Street,” he ordered as the pair ran down the hallway.

They reached their destination and Hondo let the detective enter first, seeing as it was his jurisdiction. The man in question looked up as they entered, a questioning look on his face. There was a large bruise on the man’s jaw and his right forearm appeared to be broken, a white plaster cast encasing it.

“Lance Frayman?” Marks asked

“Yeah? Can I help you?”

“Detective Marks, Salt Lake PD,” he answered, flashing his badge. “How’d you break your arm?”

“Falling down the stairs at my house,” he said matter-of-factly, though Hondo didn’t miss the nervous twitch of his mouth when he realized they were police. “How is that police business?”

“Oh, this your house?” Hondo asked, pulling up the photo of the front of the house that they’d claimed as their crime scene. “Cause last I checked, it was owned by First National Bank.”

“No, that’s not my house…. What is this about?”

“It’s not?” Marks asked, “Cause your blood was found at the bottom of the basement stairs. You make it a habit of tumbling downstairs or something?”

The man looked at Marks sternly, “No, I don’t.”

“Did you purchase a… how should I say it? Night of fun from a gang known as Rat Viper last night?” Marks asked.

“No.”

“Really? Cause we got a guy few rooms down says you did.”

“I don’t know much about gangs or these viper people, but if they were selling people like you seem to think they are, wouldn’t they drug them?” Lance said smugly, “How could they possibly be saying I did anything?”

“He remembered enough to give us this,” Marks said, setting the sketch on Fraymen’s lap. The other man’s face instantly fell as he recognized his own image. “Looks a lot like you. And we found your DNA all over that house. You’re going away, Frayman. For life, looks like.”

“Life?” Frayman exclaimed, “I-”

“You caused some serious damage-”

“Hey! I did not hurt him! He did this to me!” Lance insisted, lifting his casted arm.

Hondo surged forward, grabbing Frayman’s hospital gown and slamming him into the bed. “You listen to me, whatever my friend did to you, it wasn’t even a fraction of what you deserved!”

Lance stared at Hondo, eyes wide. “Friend?”

“That’s right. My friend. Laying in a hospital bed right now with a cracked skull so a pervert like you could get his rocks off. There is no chance in hell that you’ll be getting off for this, do you understand?”

Frayman quickly nodded his head, not taking his eyes off Hondo. Marks stepped forward and gently pushed Hondo back. He gave Hondo a sideways glance before leaning down on the edge of Frayman’s bed, getting face to face. “Tell ya what, tell me everything that went down last night and I’ll tell the DA to go easy. Minimum sentence, 15 years, possible parole. Sounds nice, doesn’t it?”

Hondo didn’t like the idea of letting this scumbag that had hurt his friend off easy, but they had to think big picture here, he understood that.

“Fine,” Frayman muttered, looking anxiously at Hondo. He sighed, shaking his head minutely, “I knew this would come back to bite me in my ass. Yes, I was at that house. They’ve been running business out of there for a few months now. That’s not me saying I’ve purchased from before!”

“Course not,” Marks conceded, holding up his hands innocently.

“I had my fun, ya know? We were going back down to the basement so I could pay them. I went first, and one of the viper people was behind me leading your friend. I heard a commotion behind me, but before I could turn around, I was falling. Your friend, he pushed me, only he fell too. We both landed at the bottom of the stairs, but I think he got more banged up than me. His face was bleeding. He got up before I could though, except he didn’t go up the stairs like I thought he would. He ran to one of the girls.”

“Her?” Hondo asked, holding up a photo of Angela on his phone.

“Yeah, her,” Lance nodded, “I think he was trying to get her out, but he didn’t have the key and she was telling him to go. While they were talking, I guess the other dudes in the house heard what was going on cause one of them came running down the stairs. He had a pipe of some kind and he hit your friend on the back of the head. He went down. I, uh, I sat up to lean against the wall. I was sure he was done, I don’t know how he got back up again. Somehow he got the pipe away from the goon. He knocked him out. But more of them were coming down the stairs. There was a little window just above ground level. He smashed it with the pipe and he managed to climb out. After that, it was chaos. The vipers just packed up everything as fast as they could. They loaded the girl and two others into the back of a silver pickup and they rushed off. Assholes. Didn’t even ask me if I was okay.”

“Yeah, cause bangers who sell human beings are known for being nice people,” Hondo said sarcastically.

“So, aside from the guy we found, they had three other people chained up?” Marks asked.

“Yes.”

“And how many Rat Vipers were there?”

“Um… four that I saw.”

“Was he one of them?” Marks asked, holding up Alex’s photograph.

“Yeah, he’s the guy who let me in when I first got there. I didn’t see him after that though.”

“You think you could give us a sketch of the other three?”

“I don’t really have much of a choice, do I?” Lance grimaced.

“That’s my boy,” Marks said, patting his shoulder. “Our artist will be in shortly.”

He and Hondo left the room, reconvening in the hallway.

“They were definitely using Alex’s truck,” Hondo said.

“We find that truck, we find Angie. And the others.”

Hondo had come and taken Luca again to search the town for Alex’s truck. Traffic footage hadn’t turned up anything yet, so Salt Lake PD had put out a BOLO for it and sent some officers searching. She’d been sitting with Street for the last twenty minutes, discussing the robbery case he’d missed this last week. It had been an interesting one, one that she hadn’t been able to help thinking at the time that he would have enjoyed. During that time, nearly everything had reminded her of him. Nearly everything led to her wondering where he was. Whether or not he was even alive.

It was hard to believe it was just this morning she’d been told he was alive. As the sun was beginning to set in the sky, it felt like it couldn’t have been more than five minutes since she’d hit the tarmac, and yet she was sure she’d been in this hospital for days.

She’d gotten a text from Luca that a camera picked the truck up on Rufio and Lancaster about two hours before heading West. She’d told Street as much.

“Rufio?” he asked slowly. “Roof…”

“Rufio and Lancaster,” she repeated.

He sat up suddenly, tossing the thin hospital sheet aside and swinging his legs off the side of the bed.

“Street!” Chris exclaimed, jumping out of her seat and running around the bed to stop him. “What are you doing? Lay down!”

He grit his teeth in pain as he stood up, albeit slightly unsteady. He reached for the spare clothes she’d had the foresight to bring. Intended for when he was  _ allowed _ to leave the hospital.

“I know where she is.”

“Who? Angie?”

“Yes!” he said impatiently, pulling his jeans on under the hospital gown.

“Great! Tell me, I’ll call Hondo,” Chris said, resting a hand on his back to guide him back to the bed.

“No,” he said, sliding out of her grasp. “I can still walk, I’m going to get her.”

“Street!” she admonished.

“I’m going, Chris. And you’re not stopping me. You can either come with or get out of my way.”

Chris cursed under her breath. In his condition, she could stop him. Only she’d definitely hurt him more by doing so. Besides, the moment she turned her back he’d slip out anyway.

“Fine!” she said angrily.

“Good. I need you to drive.”

She glared at him and fished the keys to the rental car, holding them up and jingling them. “Let’s go.”

  
  


He’d given her the address for a roofing business that had apparently shut down three months ago. He said he remembered one of the vipers mentioning it as their rendezvous point in case of emergency. She had still called Hondo for backup, informing him where they were going.

Chris pulled the car to the side of the road, skidding to a halt next to the curb. She got out of the driver’s side, walking around to help Street out of the passenger seat. She handed him her extra pistol. He brought it down to meet the hand on his injured arm, pulling the slide back to ready the gun.

“Alright, backup will be here in-” she started to say, but he was already heading toward the front entrance. “Street!” she called, chasing after him.

A rustling sound near the side of the building drew both their attention and they both headed around the corner, firearms trained at eye level.

“Freeze!” Chris shouted when they found a man in the brush next to the roofing business. He did as told, but only after training his own firearm at Chris and Street.

“Not you again!” he said angrily, “You got away! Just leave well enough alone.”

“Can’t do that, Alex,” Street said, “Where’s Angie?”

“That’s not my name, man! Not anymore.”

“That’s who you are to Angie.”

“Angie,” Alex laughed bitterly, “You know, I changed my name to protect her. I knew she’d come looking for me. Didn’t matter, she still found me. I assume you had something to do with that.”

“You were the only family she had left. You were always her protector. Even when you were kids. You seriously thought she’d give up on that?”

“She doesn’t need me. She got adopted by a rich family. She was living it up. I’m… I’m no good. I know that.”

“And these people, Rat Viper, they gave you what you never had. They gave you a family. I understand, man, I do. But they’re not your family. That’s Angie! She’s spent the last ten years looking for you. She loves you.”

Alex looked nervously over his shoulder, “I'm tryna figure out how to get her out of here, but they’ve had their eyes all over me since you showed up.”

“We have the same goal, Alex,” Chris said, figuring now was as good a time as any to speak up. “We have more officers coming. They’ll be here in less than a minute.”

Alex checked behind him again before pointing down, “Basement. They have them in the basement.”  
“How many guys?”

“Three,” he confirmed.

“Alright. Stay here,” she ordered. She turned and headed back to the front of the building, Street right behind her. “You stay behind me, do you understand?”

“Yes,” he answered just as Hondo pulled up with Luca and Detective Marks.

They cleared the building, quickly taking out the three vipers that were inside. They opened fire as soon they saw the team enter, and Hondo and Marks each had to shoot one. But Luca was able to bring one into custody. The group quickly made their way down the basement stairs, Luca picking up a pair of bolt cutters he found laying on the floor.

Street got downstairs first, pausing at the bottom of the steps long enough to locate his foster sister in the corner of the room. 

“Angie!”

He ran to her as fast as he could, dropping to his knees in front of her.

“Angie?” he said, caressing the side of her face with his uninjured hand.

She slowly opened her eyes with the contact, blinking up at Street.

“Jimmy?” she whispered, her voice raspy. She sat up quickly, wrapping her arms around his neck. “You came back,” she cried.

“I told you I would,” he said through gritted teeth as she no doubt put pressure against his broken collarbone. He wrapped his arm that wasn’t held down by the sling around her back, clinging tightly. “I’ll always come for you.”

The paramedics arrived not long after, taking Angie and the other captives out on stretchers. When Alex saw his sister, he ran to her. The officer that had been watching him moved to stop him, but let him go when Hondo shook his head.

“Angie?” Alex said tentatively, placing his hands on the side of the stretcher as he walked with the paramedics. “I’m so sorry, Anj. I didn’t want this. I… I tried. I tried so hard to protect you.”

“Alex,” she whispered, gripping his hand in one of hers. “I forgive you.”

“You- you do?” he stuttered, “How- how can you forgive me so easily?”

“You’re my brother,” she said quietly, giving him a soft, tired smile. “I spent too long looking for you to let you go now.”

A sob broke free from his chest as he bent down to kiss her hand. “You might have to. I’m pretty sure I’m going to jail for a while.”

“You’re not getting rid of me that easy,” she said as the paramedics reached the ambulance.

Street stood a few feet back with the others, watching the exchange. The officer came back and led Alex to his cruiser. He breathed a sigh of relief as the ambulance door shut, finally confident in the fact that Angie was safe. He felt Chris’s hand reach up to gently pat his back.

“You did it,” she said, smiling up at him.

“Yeah, your stupid ass did it,” Hondo agreed. He shook his head, “I should kick your ass right now, send you back to the hospital where you belong.”

Luca laughed, “I don’t know you’re standing man.”

Street nodded, staring off into the distance for a moment. He took a breath and turned to look at his team. “I’d like to go back to the hospital now.”

“As if you have a choice,” Hondo said, smacking Street on the back. Street gasped in pain. Hondo chuckled as he headed for the car. “That’s for leaving in the first place. Come on.”

Two days later, Street was  _ officially _ allowed to leave the hospital. He was standing by the departure gate at the Salt Lake City International Airport, his good arm wrapped around Angie as she stood by his side, her head resting on his shoulder.

“I didn’t properly thank you,” she said, “For any of it. For spending so much time searching for my brother. For saving me. And I sort of owe you an apology.”

“No you don’t,” he said, looking down at her, “You couldn’t have possibly known what your brother was in.”

Angie smiled, lifting her head off his shoulder to meet his gaze, “I mean that I kind of took advantage of you. I was so single-minded about finding my brother that it was all we ever talked about. We never met up just to spend time together.”

“I get it. If I’d lost someone I’d have done the same thing.”

“I want you to know, I wasn’t using you. I didn’t just message you on Facebook because I wanted your help. I remembered you from when we were kids and I realized I missed you. And if it’d be alright with you, I hope we can still get together after this. To catch up for real. It’d be nice to have two brothers.”

Street smiled back at her, pulling her closer to him. “I’d love that.”

Hondo came out of the airport then, “Flight’s boarding. Ready to go?”

Street glanced down at Angie before looking back at Hondo, “You have no idea.”

The trio walked into the airport, the Utah sun setting in the background. Street had started this trying to help his sister find her brother. And many, many road bumps later, he’d accomplished that. Angie was safe and he figured he could live with the rest. Right now, he just wanted a good night’s sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Not sure how I feel about the ending, but ngl I'm kinda proud of that clue trail. Amirite? XD


End file.
